Distinguished Lecture Series

The Global Institute for Water Security and Global Water Futures are proud to present a weekly virtual seminar series featuring top water experts from around the world. These lectures are free and open to all.

2022 Schedule

All lectures will be held on Wednesdays at 10:00 am CST (Saskatchewan Time; UTC -6). 

Lecture Date Lecturer Lecture Title  

September 14, 2022

Jessica Lundquist,
University of Washington, USA

 The predictive power of early-season snow in North America Details

September 21, 2022

Joshua Larsen,
University of Birmingham, UK

 New thoughts on old problems, influence of forests, snow and ecosystem engineers on water resources Details

September 28, 2022

Deborah McGregor,
York University, Canada

 Decolonizing Water Relationships: Indigenous legal orders Cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances

October 5, 2022

‪Esteban Jobbágy,
Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina

 Groundwater-Vegetation coupling in the plains of South America: Learning to tame a beast Details

October 12, 2022

Lindsey Nicholson,
University of Innsbruck, Austria

 Deglaciating mountain hydrology: expected impacts and uncertainties Details

October 19, 2022

Junguo Liu,
North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power,
China

 Three-dimensional Water Scarcity Assessment Details

October 26, 2022

Tom Gleeson,
University of Victoria, Canada

Tim Kulchyski,
Cowichan Tribes

 Groundwater sustainability across scales: from partnering with Indigenous communities to contributing to global initiatives Details

November 2, 2022

Megan Konar,
University of Illinois, USA

 Groundwater and food supply chains Details

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2022 Recordings

The predictive power of early-season snow in North America

Jessica Lundquist
Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering,
University of Washington, U.S.

Dr. Lundquist's research focuses on spatial patterns of snow and weather in the mountains and how those patterns are likely to affect streamflow and water resources in a changing climate.

New thoughts on old problems, influence of forests, snow and ecosystem engineers on water resources

Joshua Larsen
Senior Lecturer School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science,
University of Birmingham, UK

Dr Joshua Larsen is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography. His research interests include Hydrology, ecohydrology, biogeochemistry, water quality, and palaeohydrology.

Groundwater-Vegetation coupling in the plains of South America: Learning to tame a beast

‪Esteban Jobbágy
Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Argentina

Esteban’s research areas are ecohydrology, agriculture and plains.

Deglaciating mountain hydrology: expected impacts and uncertainties

Lindsey Nicholson
Assistant Professor, Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences,
University of Innsbruck, Austria

Lindsey’s research focuses on understanding the relationship between glaciers and climate in order to better understand how the climate system works and how glaciers, and related earth systems, will change in the future.

Three-dimensional Water Scarcity Assessment

Junguo Liu
Professor / Vice President,
North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, China

Junguo’s research interests include hydrology and water resources, global environmental change, and ecological restoration. He has earned an excellent international reputation through his contributions to the fields of water resources research and ecological restoration.

Groundwater sustainability across scales: from partnering with Indigenous communities to contributing to global initiatives

Tom Gleeson
University of Victoria

As a hydrogeologist, Tom Gleeson is interested in groundwater sustainability, regional- to continental-scale groundwater systems, groundwater-surface water interactions and fluid flow around geologic structures.

 

Tim Kulchyski
Cowichan Tribes

Tim Kulchyski is a Biologist and Member of Cowichan Tribes who grew up on the banks of the Xwulqw'selu Sta'lo'. Tim has worked with a variety of clients assessing upland, freshwater, and marine ecosystems for 25 years. His work often involves examining the impacts of development on cultural values. Tim has travelled extensively, studying the interaction between resource issues and cultural heritage. Over the past several years he was involved in a major Hul’qumi’num language revitalization initiative. Tim has been a member of the Cowichan Watershed Board since its inception in 2010.

Groundwater and food supply chains

Megan Konar
Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Illinois, USA

Dr. Konar conducts policy-relevant research that focuses on the intersection of water, food, and trade. Her research is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing from hydrology, environmental science, and economics.

Past Lecture Series

The Global Institute for Water Security and Global Water Futures would like to thank all of our speakers. Please enjoy these recorded lectures below or on the GIWS YouTube Channel.

Distinguished Lecture Series 2021 Playlist

  1. Hannah Cloke, Reading University, UK:
    Preparing for Floods
  2. Gia Destouni, Stockholm University, Sweden:
    Large-scale hydrological co-variation patterns: essential for water security, emerging from data, but not captured by modeling and reanalysis
  3. Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Plytechnique Fédéral Lausanne, Italy:
    River networks as ecological corridors. A coherent ecohydrological perspective for global water security
  4. Alexander Gelfan, Water Problems Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia:
    Climate change and threats to water security
  5. Renee Brooks, United States Environmental Protection Agency, USA:
    Assessing climate impacts on river water sources using basin specific isoscapes
  6. Theresa Blume, GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience:
    Field observations of hydrological flow path evolution over 10 millennia
  7. Upmanu Lall, Columbia University, USA:
    Gloval to Local Hydroclimatic Networks – Dynamics and Predictability
  8. Dave Tarboton, Utah Water Research Laboratory, USA:
    HydroShare: A system for data sharing and collaboration in hydrology by hydrologists for hydrologists

Distinguished Lecture Series Fall 2020 Playlist

  1. Dr. Ilja van Meerveld, University of Zurich:
    Connectivity of the dashed lines: hydrological variation along intermittent streams
  2. Dr. Ana Barros, Duke University:
    Running the Distance in Cogwheels - Multiscale Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Hydroclimatic Change
  3. Brad Wilcox, Texas A&M:
    The Ecohydrology of Woody Plant Encroachment: How the Conversion of Grasslands to Woodlands is Altering the Water Cycle
  4. Cathy Wilson, Los Alamos National Lab:
    Moving toward the next generation of Arctic land models
  5. Deb Perrone, UC Santa Barbara:
    Deeper groundwater drilling an unsustainable solution to groundwater depletion
  6. Ross Woods, University of Bristol:
    Classification and Similarity for Global Hydrologic Prediction
  7. Beth Boyer, Penn State University:
    Coupled Hydrological and Biogeochemical Cycles in Watersheds: Responses to Anthropogenic Changes in the Critical Zone
  8. Markus Weiler, Freiburg University:
    Which rainfall events produces the largest flash flood?
  9. Stefan Krause, University of Birmingham (UK):
    River corridors as global hotspots for microplastic accumulation, degradation and environmental impacts
  10. Genevieve Ali, University of Guelph:
    Ecohydrological connectivity – What do we know and what’s next?

Distinguished Lecture Series 2019 Playlist

  1. Dr. Reed Maxwell, Colorado School of Mines:
    Scientific discovery through computational hydrology
  2. Dr. Bart Nijssen, University of Washington:
    Breakthroughs in Process-Based Hydrological Modeling
  3. Dr. Adrian Harpold, University of Nevada:
    How Will Changing Snow Change Streamflow?
  4. Dr. David Hannah, University of Birmingham UK:
    Water in a changing environment: too much, too little, too hot?
  5. Dr. Bridget Scanlon, UT Austin:
    Assessing Water Resources at Global to Local Scales
  6. Dr. Martyn Tranter, Bristol University:
    Biological darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet – greater areas of dark ice in a warming climate?
  7. Dr. Nandita Basu, University of Waterloo:
    Protecting our Waters: Managing Nutrient Legacies to Accelerate Water Quality Improvement
  8. Dr. Karen Kidd, McMaster University:
    Local through global influences of human activities on mercury in aquatic ecosystems

Distinguished Lecture Series 2018 Playlist

  1. Dr. Ciaran Harman, Johns Hopkins University:
    The modern theory of catchment transit times and its discontents
  2. Dr. Martyn Clark, Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research:
    Advances in continental-domain hydrologic modeling and prediction
  3. Dr. Witold Krajewski, Professor at the University of Iowa:
    Is it the model or is it the rainfall?
  4. Dr. Adam Ward, University of Indiana:
    Breakthroughs in river corridor research
  5. Dr. Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University of Toronto:
    Search for surviving remnants of early water on Earth
  6. Dr. Steven Loheide, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
    Two-way interactions between groundwater and food systems
  7. October 31, 2018 - Dr. András Bárdossy University of Stuttgart:
    Impossible mission of hydrological modelling
  8. Dr. Alex Konings, Stanford University:
    Using microwave remote sensing to study plant water stress response
  9. Dr. Jennifer McIntosh, University of Arizona:
    Human impacts on the deep terrestrial water cycle

Distinguished Lecture Series 2017 Playlist

  1. Dr. William Dietrich, University Califorina, Berkeley:
    The soil is not enough -- Going Inside Hillslopes to Understand Moisture Return to the Atmosphere, and Controls on Tree Distribution, Stream Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution
  2. Dr. Ximing Cai, University of Illinois:
    The Human Dimension of Water Resources Systems: Implications for Research and Management Practices
  3. Dr. Kathleen Weathers, Cary Institute:
    Ecological Puzzles and a Passion for Lakes: Cyanobacteria, Sensors, Citizens and Scientists
  4. Dr. Ying Fan Reinfelder, Rutgers University:
    Three Hydrologic Depths of the Earth’s Critical Zone
  5. Dr. Roy Brouwer, University of Waterloo:
    Integrated Economics into Water Policy and Decision Making
  6. Dr. Scott Tyler, University of Nevada, Reno:
    Advances in Cryosphere Monitoring: Measuring Antarctic Ice Shelf Stability and Ocean Dynamics using Fiber-Optic Sensing
  7. Dr. Tim Burt, Durham University:
    Dancing in the Rain: On the Value of Fieldwork in the Hydrological Sciences
  8. Dr. Jeff McDonnell, University of Saskatchewan:
    Compartmentalization of the Terrestrial Water Cycle

Distinguished Lecture Series 2016 Playlist

  1. Dr. Günter Blöschl, Vienna University of Technology:
    Breakthroughs in Flood Research
  2. Dr. Hoshin Gupta, University of Arizona:
    A General Theory of Learning with Models & Data
  3. Dr. Susan Hubbard, UC Berkeley:
    Effects of Climate Change on Watershed Dynamics: Insights from Geophysical Methods
  4. Dr. Alberto Montanari, University of Bologna:
    Seeking a Step Forward in Research and Education in Water Science
  5. Dr. Doerthe Tetzlaff, University of Aberdeen:
    Advances in Ecohydrology in Changing Northern Regions
  6. Dr. Chris Soulsby, University of Aberdeen:
    Breakthroughs in Tracer-Aided Modelling
  7. Dr. Jim Hall, University of Oxford:
    Risk-Based Water Resources Planning Under Uncertainty
  8. Dr. Susan L. Brantley, Penn State University:
    How Rocks, Water and Living Organisms Turn Rock into Soil
  9. Dr. Dara Entekhabi, MIT:
    Tracking the Global Water Cycle with the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission

Distinguished Lecture Series 2015 Playlist

  1. Dr. Anne Nolin, Oregon State University:
    Advances in measuring, modeling and understanding the consequences of climate change on snow hydrology
  2. Dr. Sally Thompson, University of California Berkeley:
    Trying to understand four decades of hydrologic change in a rapidly urbanizing, minimally-monitored basin, in the context of a growing water crisis
  3. Dr. Kent Keller, Washington State University:
    Chemical weathering: Challenges for Earth, life and water scientists
  4. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, University of Osnabrück:
    Water governance in the face of gobal change: From understanding to transformation
  5. Dr. Klement Tockner, Freie Universität Berlin:
    A global view on future major water engineering projects
  6. Dr. Charles Vorosmarty, City University of New York:
    The freshwater debates: Simmering battles in the water sciences, assessment and management communities
  7. Dr. Brian Berkowitz, Weizmann Institute of Science:
    The fastest path is not a straight line: Preferential flows in soils and groundwater
  8. Dr. Dorthe Wildenschild, Oregon State University:
    Demystifying the pore: Using high-resolution imaging to better understand fluid flow in porous media
  9. Dr. Richard Vogel, Tufts University:
    Hydrologic design in the Anthropocene

Distinguished Lecture Series 2014 Playlist

  1. Dr. James Kirchner, ETH Zurich:
    Breakthroughs in water quality analysis
  2. Dr. Sampurno Bruijnzeel, Free University Amsterdam:
    Breakthroughs in Tropical landuse change impacts
  3. Dr. Dave White, Arizona State University:
    Breakthroughs in water sustainability in semi-arid regions
  4. Dr. Hubert Savenije, Delft University of Technology:
    Breakthroughs in landscape-based rainfall-runoff
  5. Dr. Kevin Bishop, Swedish University of Agricultural Studies:
    Breakthroughs in the biogeochemistry of Nordic aquatic systems
  6. Dr. Kamini Singha, Colorado School of Mines:
    Quantifying transient storage with electrical geophysics
  7. Dr. Amilcare Porporato, Duke University:
    Soil moisture dynamics and stoichiometry controls on soil nutrient cycling
  8. Dr. Christina Tague, University of California Santa Barbara:
    Forest ecology and drought: Why geology matters!
  9. Dr. Aaron Wolf, Oregon State University:
    Breakthroughs in water negotiations: Rationality, spirituality and shared waters
  10. Dr. Sonia Seneviratne, ETH Zurich:
    Effects of land hydrology on atmospheric processes and climate change

Distinguished Lecture Series 2013 Playlist

  1. Dr. Dani Or, ETH Zurich:
    Breakthroughs in soil physics
  2. Dr. John Selker, Oregon State University:
    Breakthroughs in instrumentation
  3. Dr. Peter Troch, The University of Arizona:
    Breakthroughs in lab experiments
  4. Dr. Keith Beven, Lancaster University:
    Breakthroughs in uncertainty estimation
  5. Dr. Larry Band, University of North Carolina:
    Breakthroughs in hydroecological modelling
  6. Dr. Harry Vereecken, Bonn University:
    Breakthroughs in watershed observatory networks
  7. Dr. Leroy Poff, Colorado State University:
    Breakthroughs in instream flow modelling
  8. Dr. Efi Foufoula-Georgious, University of Minnesota:
    Breakthroughs in engineering hydrology
  9. Dr. Irena Creed, University of Western Ontario:
    Breakthroughs in aquatic ecosystem science
  10. Dr. Carol Kendall, United States Geological Survey:
    Breakthroughs in isotope hydrology
  11. Dr. Siva Sivapalan, University of Illinois:
    Breakthroughs in socio-hydrology